Data storage systems (DSSes) store large quantities of data logically arranged onto many logical disks accessible to host devices. Host devices send data storage commands to a DSS in order for the DSS to access its storage and fulfill the data storage commands with respect to a logical disk. Some DSSes may be arranged as a pair or collection of storage processor devices configured to process data storage commands in a redundant or fault-tolerant manner.
Instead of using a physical DSS having physical storage processors, it is sometimes beneficial to run a virtual storage appliance (VSA) made up of virtualized storage processors within virtual machines (VMs). One or more enterprise servers may run several VMs in parallel, allowing flexibility in where each virtualized storage processor runs and allowing the virtualized storage processors to be instantiated on various servers as resource availability dictates. This approach also allows the storage for the VSA to be distributed across a network, so long as the storage can be made available to the VMs, such as through a hypervisor running a virtualized storage module on one of the servers. Typically, a user wishing to run a VSA downloads an installation package from a software provider, and then installs and configures the package for use on the user's servers.